Morris W. Travers – Scientist and Pioneer An Autobiography

Morris W. Travers was born in Kensington, London in England in 1872. He attended University College, London where he studied chemistry under Sir William Ramsay. Together they discovered three new elements: neon, krypton and xenon. Morris then went on to teach at University College, Bristol. There he became a leader of the university movement which prompted the creation of the University of Bristol from the College and other educational institutions in the city.

Morris’s father was a physician who was not afraid of such “radical” ideas as the existence of germs and the importance of hand-washing in medicine. Morris himself had great confidence in what he believed were the progressive ideas of the day. He became the founding director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India and fought for educational policies that ensured its success as the centre of Indian scientific learning and research. He later returned to England where he was given a life appointment at the University of Bristol in appreciation of his founding leadership.